Lisa Monaco, US Homeland Security and Counterterrorism Chief to President Obama, to Serve as Advisor to Lyft

We are excited to announce that Lisa Monaco, chief homeland security and counterterrorism advisor to President Barack Obama, will be serving as an Advisor to Lyft on trust and safety for our community, bringing unmatched experience as we continue to work to ensure that safety is prioritized in each and every ride.

Safety has always been a top priority for Lyft, and it is our goal to make every ride safe, comfortable, and reliable for both drivers and passengers. Starting from when the company was founded in 2012, we have worked to develop important safety features for ridesharing, including professionally administered background checks, in-app photos of drivers and vehicles, real-time ride tracking, around-the-clock support, and the ability to share your ETA with family and friends. These features are still not required for many other transportation options. We are committed to building upon these existing practices and features to make the Lyft platform the safest way to get around, and are excited to work with Lisa to get there.

“Lisa brings an incredible depth of experience that will greatly benefit the Lyft community,” said John Zimmer, co-founder and President of Lyft. “Communities begin with trust, and we take very seriously our responsibility to invest in the safety of our passengers and drivers."

Lisa currently serves as Distinguished Senior Fellow at New York University Law School’s Center on Law and Security and Center on Cybersecurity. She spent more than two decades in public service and in senior management and advisory positions in law enforcement and national security. As the President’s Homeland Security and Counterterrorism Advisor from 2013 to 2017, she coordinated the federal government’s crisis management and response to a wide array of risks and challenges -- from cyber threats and pandemics to terrorist threats. She was responsible for advising the President on all aspects of counterterrorism policy and strategy and coordinating homeland security-related activities throughout the Executive Branch. She chaired the Cabinet-level Homeland Security Principals’ Committee, which advised the President on homeland security policy issues and crises.

Prior to her tenure at the White House, Lisa spent 15 years at the Department of Justice -- the majority of that time serving as a career federal prosecutor and in senior management positions in the DOJ and the FBI. She has extensive experience at the most senior levels of law enforcement and the Department of Justice. She served for three years as counsel to and then as Chief of Staff at the FBI, helping then Director Robert S. Mueller, III, transform the FBI after 9/11 into a national security organization focused on preventing terrorist attacks on the US.

Lisa served in a number of leadership roles across the DOJ, including as Principal Associate Deputy Attorney General and Assistant Attorney General for National Security, where she led the the department’s National Security Division that was created following the events of September 11, 2001. At NSD, Lisa oversaw all federal terrorism and national security prosecutions nationwide and made national security cyber threats a top priority, establishing the first nationwide network of national security cyber prosecutors. This experience built on her prior role as Assistant U.S. Attorney, which notably included service on the Enron Task Force. Lisa is a graduate of Harvard University and University of Chicago Law School.